Where Credit is due – Cotto vs. Pacquiao
November 19th, 2009
By Will Cruz: From the months leading up to the mega fight between the Pacman and Fearless Miguel Cotto up until fight night, I was as excited as everyone for these two to get in the ring. I followed both camps closely, watched every interview, training video and 2 hours of HBO’s 24/7. I have been clear before and stand by my support for Miguel Cotto as his fan for the boxer he is but more importantly his professionalism and the heart that he has shown throughout his career. The night of November 14, I had the music going, that good Puerto Rican food and those drinks that sneak up on you as you go through the night. And while the night was a bitter sweet one for all of us Cotto fans, at least from us that were gathered together that night, we instantly became Pacquiao fans for what we had witnessed.
When the fight was first signed, Pacquiao and his Master Freddie Roach, suggested a catch weight of 145. I never had a problem with that weight and Cotto’s team did not have a problem as well which is why the fight happened. Check mate!! Roach did it again; he is smart and savvy and knew that the extra pound or two would make a difference. Cotto made the weight without killing himself, but there is a reason why he began training a month before the Pacman did. And although he made the weight easily, he substituted strength and punching power for speed of his own, which gave all the advantage back to Pacquiao.
At the end of the day, I now consider Manny Pacquiao the best pound 4 pound fighter in the world, and I have nothing but props for what he did. And as Cotto stated, he was not Oscar De La Hoya and was no Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao beat Miguel Cotto. In fact, as a boxing fan I am grateful to be experiencing history. He has the most amazing combination of speed, power AND boxing ability that I have ever seen. On November 14, he could have beaten anyone in my opinion. However, I am also a loyal fan, especially with my pride of great Puerto Rican fighters. Miguel Cotto is as classy and professional as I have seen in the sport; he immediately humbled himself after Pacman had humbled him and congratulated the new Welterweight champ. I’m as proud of that as I would have been if he would have beaten the Pacman. As I have stated in most of my articles regarding this fight, that night all of us fans were winners. No one was disappointed on the grand scheme of things. We witnessed two great fighters give it their very best; no B.S. just raw warriors.
Now we await the Mayweather show and whether or not he will finally step up and show everyone that he is indeed the best in the world. One thing is for sure for me, if and when that fight happens, I know who I will be rooting for; the pride of the Philippines Manny Pacquiao. I am not one to ride the bandwagon especially in sports, but I will make an exception and buy a first class ticket for the Pac-Mobile. He is the best and in my opinion even if Cotto would have come in differently on the night of the 14th, I don’t think he would have been beaten as badly, but I still think Pacquiao is a level above Cotto; the result would have been the same. I can only hope that we see more of Mr. Fearless and more rising stars with similar qualities as these two fighters. If that is the case boxing will be just fine, if not, we may have just witnessed the last true great battle for years to come. I give credit where credit is due; we owe both of these fighters much credit and can only root for these guys and acknowledge their significance and contribution to the sport this decade.
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that’s it Period.
Article sounds nice, but Mayweather will still remain undefeated even after meeting Pacman.Pacman is good but not too good for money man.
Dear PINOY AKO,
“welterweight limit is 140 and welterweight limit is 147 pounds”. Exactly! 147 is the welterweight limit..A limit Team Pacman didnt let cotto come in…Giving Pacquiao an advantage…Dont blind yourself man..and if you call “Miguel “2 pounds” Cotto” then Ill call pacman…”Manny “Catchweight 145″ Pacquiao”…or do you want me to call him the welterweight champ when he wants to fights welterweights at 145 ?
WILL, AS A FILIPINO FAN I ADMIRE MIGUEL COTTO MUCH MORE AFER THIS FIGHT THAN I EVER DID. LIKE YOU, I ROOT FOR COTTO ( ONLY IF HE IS NOT FIGHTING PACQUIAO ) BECAUSE HE IS A FIGHTING MAN, WHO IS VERY PROUD, CONSUMATE PROFESSIONAL. NEVER DID I HEAR HIM TURN DOWN A FIGHT WITH ANY FIGHTER WHETHER THEY ARE BIGGER, FASTER, OR STRONGER. HE WILL COME BACK AND REGAIN ANOTHER TITLE, AND I THINK 154 LBS IS HIS BEST WEIGHT. HE IS STILL A GREAT WARRIOR, AND FILIPINOS ADMIRE HIS COURAGE AND PROFESSIONALISM.
I give pac credit for being a great fighter but not for beating miguel cotto, i think and many experts think that cotto is a much better fighter than pac and should have beat pac at 147. cotto look the way he did cause of the weight not cause of pac. Like the article say, After the punch pac land on the 4 round thats when everything change, but before that cotto school pacquiao and that was obvious he just didnt have any power and got tired fast, you know it if not you blind.
Excellent observations – well written.
This fight was really a legendary one. My regard for both fighters went up many notches. Especially the turning point in this fight when one noticed suddenly Cotto’s power and danger disappeared was quite evident.
Dear Wanderer and Marcos,
FYI, jr. welterweight limit is 140 and welterweight limit is 147 pounds. Therefore, you are considered a welterweight if you are from 140 to 147 pounds. So you’re saying that the great Miguel Cotto was beaten by 2 pounds? Is that Cotto’s excuse? If it is, then I will now call him Miguel “2 pounds” Cotto.
I agree…..but its not an excuse…its a fact.. Cotto is a welterweight fighter…and he didnt fight at welterweight. I would love to see Pacquiao figh fighters in their actual current fighting weight…no Catchweight bs…Pacquiao did not beat a welterweight Cotto..PERIOD!…He beat a 145 one.
great article. I’m a filipino and a foremost pacman fan. We have so many competent Filipino boxers but Manny is cut above the rest. I see a good opponent when I see one and I don’t have problems rooting for non-Filipino boxers when pitted against our boxers. Just like Ponce against our Bautista. I went for Ponce because I know he can beat Bautista easily. Bautista is overrated.
As Filipino fans, we have come to admire and respect your warrior, Cotto. He is the epitome of a true sportsman. We just hope that he can bounce back so he’ll finally dispel the accusation that he’s a shot fighter coming to the fight. What better way is to get it back against Margarito.
That’s what Pacquiao did, he conquered those who defeated him first. With that, Cotto can take his pride back as a fighter and hopefully Manny will give Cotto a rematch at 147.
If Pacqiauo loses this one, then we can draw the line that Manny is the pound-4-pound king up to 145 and Cotto is at 147.
Cotto himself is not making excuses. Why should anyone else? No one needs to hear any more of the following:
BARRERA – forest fires in Big Bear camp
PACQUIAO (after first loss to Morales)- my socks had a hole in it.
MORALES – trouble making weight
OSCAR DLH – weight drained
HATTON – I was winning second round by a mile
Sorry mate, but you said that when you watched the fight the day after ‘emotions aside’ you saw cotto unload on pacquiao on the ropes in round 4 with no effect and at that point you knew the fight was over. But this was the day after and you already knew what had happened so it obviously didn’t jump out in real time did it?
Hmmmmmmmmm………….
Let’s not forget that this might’ve been Cotto’s only true loss, which means he’s had a great career only beaten by an all-time great.
There shouldn’t be excuses, as what your colleague Liam Santiago is saying.
Cotto himself is not giving excuses. Why should anyone else.
I’M A COTTO FAN, BUT I THINK MARGARITO DID TO COTTO WHAT DELA HOYA DID TO FERNADO VARGAS, NOT THE SAME FIGHTERS AFTER THOSE FIGHTS
Great article! Thank you for a terrific piece of writing!
I salute Cotto for his greatness in boxing. He was so gracious in defeat. To me he is still one of the best fighter in the history of boxing, way way above then Oscar de la Hoya. Right nnow Pacquiao is the best fighter of all time as Cotto mentioned.
Cotto in my estimation is still the BORICUAN WARRIOR !! I still think he would kill margarito in a rematch. He’s still, in my estimation a top 5 fighter.
1. Manny
2. mayweather
3. Williams
4. Cotto
5. Mosely
hey whats up boxing fans. whats up PR..look the fight was something big for both fighter, but something bigger for the pacman that night…if every one says that they are boxing fans and they do alot of folling up with boxers careers then you all soud’ve known that cotto is not on the pacman’s level..cotto is a good boxer put pacman is clearly the better fighter.
I agree with the author in giving Cotto his due credit. He fought with a warriors heart and never gave up. He may have been running on empty after the middle rounds, but he kept moving, looking for an opening and never considered quitting. Before the fight I was a Pacquiao fan, after the fight I became a Cotto fan too. He deserves to be in more great fights. For that to continue though, I agree with Rambo in saying he should reunite with Uncle as trainer. Any trainer looks good when their fighter is doing good, but when a fighter is doing bad and losing only a great trainer can give that fighter a chance. Miguel, reunite with your Uncle because he’ll tell you you need to hear to win, not what you want to hear. Let’s hope to see Miguel in more great fights!
good article. i do believe that the catch weight was made for a reason and i also believe that miguel looked weak in this fight as opposed to others.
when all of it is said and done though, no matter how you put it, the blame lies with Miguel. if the catchweight was a problem, he’s at fault for taking it up. if his punches were weak, he’s at fault for not conditioning himself.
boxing is a game and like all games, there needs to be a plan. psychological warfare is a BIG part of the game and you have to take the advantages off your opponent and place them for yourself. There’s an old proverb about boxing: the general who enters the enemy’s choice of battle is not brave but a fool. roach on his side, ensures that not only is manny in prime condition but also aids in psy-war and forming game plans. Cotto lost to manny in terms of psy-war and gameplans.
besides, no matter how you cut it, Manny beat Miguel. I’m a huge cotto fan but like your article says: give credit where credit is due.
I like it when you said, “In fact, as a boxing fan I am grateful to be experiencing history.”
That is so true, the fact that I was born in the late 80’s and didnt really get to witness the Ali era. so to witness Pacman era is something special.
Before I became a Pacman fan, I have been a Cotto fan first and will remain as one. Like Manny, Cotto has never been in a boring fight. All of his ring wars were action packed and entertaining –that is why I love him. He comes to fight. There’s the Olympics and there’s the professional boxing.
There is no shame in losing a fight against a great fighter. Manny, has been called by many as a phenomenon –which means beyond ordinary. Some calls him a superhuman-even compared him to Superman, to his countrymen -a hero, for many boxing experts, an all time great-some went on to say the greatest….. but to himself is an ordinary.
I have never seen a fighter who smiles (like a little child going for a trick or treat on Halloween night) while walking towards the ring to fight. That’s rare, really rare. We are fortunate to have been witnessing this history unfold. Let’s enjoy him while we can.
Great article!
Mayweather will lose to Pac-man for sure. But I’d like to find another great boxer. I’m getting bored of Pac-man winning everytime. I hope Pac-man retires already.
I Think Cotto Should Make Up With His Uncle.Cotto Was Doing Much Better With His Uncle.It Was A Good Fight But If Cotto Had His Uncle It Would Had Been A Better Night For Cotto
cotto will always be number one!
#2 TRUWELTER… sorry for you pacman will retire soon.. he has only one fight left and that to knock out mayweather in 2010.. Michael Buffer will introduce him in the ring “The welterweight champion of the world, from Sarangani province, Philippines.. Honorable congressman Manny pacman Pacquiao”.. He will probably win the congress seat this May 2010 election..
I gotta give much credit to pac man I’m a fan of the pac man and a fan of cotto as well cotto got heart on nov 14 he was no oscar or no hatton great fight viva pac man viva cotto baya boricua
good article.. where is Manuel Perez and Liam Santiago? Hope they will read this write up..
hey remundo, i hope pac will defend his title against the very best welterweights out there and defend it on a regular basis.that’s what i want to see! maybe, mayweather can come later…just maybe!
Sometimes you don’t get the credit you deserve in life. I’ve often said to others that sometimes in life you don’t get the credit you deserve. I hope this time Cotto gets the credit he deserves as I often see cases in life of people not getting the credit they deserve. Cotto = Legend!!